Mattress Mack brings evacuees and volunteers out a year after Harvey

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - With simply positing a video on social media, a year ago hundreds flocked to Gallery Furniture.

“We got on the television and media, invited people to come out here and stay if their house is flooded, as so many of them were. So we had 300 or 400 people here and a couple hundred people at our store off Richmond. And they stayed two or three nights and they were great, couldn’t be in any better. And it was our way of trying to help the community that has done so much for us over all these years,” says Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale.

One of the many that came to the store for shelter was Ariel Segoviano. His house flooded and days after volunteering, Mack blessed his life in a whole new way.

“He was coming to tell us, 'hey do you work, do you have a job?' I’m like 'no sir' and he hired me, he hired me on the spot and it felt great. After year, I’m happy to say I’m a year old today with this company and I’m happy,” says Segoviano.

Sunday Mac gave away mattresses, Houston Astros tickets, food and invited the community to come back or to his store, to share their stories.

“That’s the way I was brought up and what my parents would want me to do and my beloved brother who all three deceased, that’s what they want me to do," Mack says. "So I continue to do it and hopefully set an example for the people I work here with who are tremendous and were great during the storm, for my children and for my grandchildren and so I have to leave a legacy and hopefully my legacy is a legacy that, the essence of living is giving.”